Gerberga, Queen of the Franks

Who is Gerberga, Queen of the Franks?

Gerberga was the wife of Carloman I, King of the Franks, and sister-in-law of Charlemagne. Her flight to the Lombard kingdom of Desiderius following Carloman's death precipitated the last Franco-Lombard war, and the end of the independent kingdom of the Lombards in 774.

Very little is known of Gerberga. Her family and background are otherwise unknown: references to her being a daughter of Desiderius appear to be based upon confusion between herself and her sister-in-law, the Lombard princess Desiderata, who had married Carloman's brother, Charlemagne, as part of a pact between the Franks and the Lombards. That she in fact was a Frank is attested by Pope Stephen III: when the Pope, hearing of the marriage between Desiderata and Charlemagne, wrote a scolding letter to Carloman and Charlemagne, he claimed to the pair that "by your father's [i.e. Pepin the Short] explicit order, you were united in marriage to beautiful Frankish women..."

Gerberga bore her husband Carloman two sons, the elder of whom was named Pippin, during their marriage. After Carloman died, Gerberga expected her sons to inherit Carloman's realm, and perhaps intended to rule as regent; instead, Charlemagne seized his brother's territory, and Gerberga fled Francia with her sons and Carloman's chief advisor, Autchar. Charlemagne's biographer, Einhard, claimed she fled "for no reason at all".